Trapped
Soon enough, they saw what was the issue: the whale was entangled in what is known as blue steel; this is some really strong rope fishermen use. Crabbers were responsible for this: they used it to attach traps to buoys.
But the whale had ran across it, and it made her badly injured. Those were 250-foot-long ropes, and they had caught and harmed the humpback whale. As a result, it had lost almost all mobility. But how could it be helpt?